Creative problem-solving skill is what our leaders, journalists, educationists, social reformers, and all stakeholders require to move Nigeria forward today. Disruptive approaches, name-calling, firebrand journalism  are cheap but counterproductive. 

Problems exist, and they must be solved.  That is what makes us human.  It is when we drone in problems and refuse to solve them that we qualify to be called a country of Edidare whose Royal Highness is Omugodimeji of the Late D O Fagunwa’s Irinkerindo Ninu Igbo Elegbeje.

We cannot pretend that we do not have our problems in Nigeria.  Every nation has its own share of problems.  Imperfect people inhabit the world. In modern times, just as in days of old, where two or more people gather, there will always be issues. 

We have our problems in Nigeria. Major news headlines around the globe confirm that no single nation is spared of troubles, trials and tribulations –human or nature induced. Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Iran, Iraq, America, North Korea, Indonesia, South Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, China and Russia. 

Gladiators, Escape from Sobibor, The Great Escape, Saving Private Ryan, Sometimes in April, Hotel Rwanda, The Penkelemesi Years, Biafra, June 12, Third Term Debacle et al are classic testimonials to the problems of nationhood. Even sweet victory of Italy world dominance we watched live on TV in the just concluded World Cup was swallowed by the shark of match-fixing scandal which engulfed the Italian biggest clubs like AC Milan, Fiorentina, Juventus and Lazio.  

The world is a globe of mystery full of paradoxical complications such that when you solve a problem, the solution you create metamorphosed into another problem, which must also be solved. 

So, we agree that as Nigerians we have our fair share of problems.  And, they must be solved. Now, the most prominent of these problems that has embarrassingly stuck to the essence of our soul as a nation like a nagging boil on the nose since the epoch of the new democracy in 1999 is politician degenerative corruption (alleged and real, that which we can prove and that which we may never unravel). 

Vanguard Online of Wednesday, July 19, 2006 carried a story titled “Nigerian Leaders Corrupt – EFCC”.  Rotimi Ajayi and Emeka Mamah reporting for the newspaper wrote, 

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, in a paper at a seminar organised by the Institute of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria vowed that  the organisation would not succumb to intimidation and blackmail from politicians. In the paper presented on his behalf by the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Emmanuel Akomoye, Ribadu said leaders at various levels of government in the  country were corrupt and criminally ingenious. The paper was entitled: “Beyond Threats, Can EFCC Stop Thieving Politicians?” Nigerian politicians are not only  stealing public funds in the most brazen manner, but have an uncanny ability to deceive and blackmail their victims at the same time to cover their misdeeds, he said.

His words: “Nigeria has not been lucky with good leaders at local, state and federal levels. We have had leaders without conviction, leaders without any sense of  patriotism, leaders whose concept of governance is the amassing of personal wealth, leaders without vision.

“It is indeed a misnomer to call them leaders, for they do not qualify to be so called. They were in the main, professional manipulators who pillaged and emptied the  treasuries. The day we begin to install true leadership in office, most of our problems will be solved. And so, as we approach 2007, we have to be vigilant. We have to  reject people with questionable background as politicians seeking elective offices. “It is time to put them to shame. It is time to expose them, their agents and cronies.  It is time to say no to their ill-gotten money.”

We are dealing with politician degenerative corruption and the objective is to proffer a practical solution to tackle this problem once and for all.  If we do not face the challenge now, we are endangered.  Our future might just be an illusion.  Endangered because of the magnitude of the Nigerian wealth that has been stolen since 1999.  I do not have the statistics, but the cumulative might just be more than the total amount stolen between 1960 and 1999. Either way, it is not getting better. 

We face today than ever before in the history of Nigeria as a modern nation, this problem of politician degenerative corruption.  Degenerative because we live in the best of times in Nigeria when the nation is witnessing great wealth but in the worst of times when politicians continue to loot our national wealth and plunder our treasuries converting them into personal vaults across the country and overseas, epochal acts of mindless barbarism and vandalism in the magnitude of the 641AD destruction of the Library of Alexandria which had been collecting works since 330BC and 1897 British punitive expedition that resulted in the looting of the Benin Kingdom artifacts.  Can we ever get our wealth back from these politicians? 

These corrupt politicians steal our today and squander our future.  Can we ever recover our wealth from them?  I doubt.  History recorded that it took six months to destroy the Library of Alexandria, losing forever much of the scholarship of the ancient world to momentary prejudice and unbridled fanaticism. Most of the Benin artifacts could just as well be ‘resting in peace’ in some private English estates, Black heritage of higher intelligence and civilization, never to be recovered.  If we cannot recover these stolen wealth, we can TODAY stop these corrupt politicians from looting more and bring them to book for their present and past evil accumulation of our national wealth.  We are likely to be doomed like the Library of Alexandria and the Benin artifacts if we do not STOP these corrupt politicians now.  Their greed and wickedness are boundless. 

The solution proffered for tackling the politician degenerative corruption is what I call the ‘Oyo Mesi’ Model.  This is not entirely an original concept to solving the problem of governance in Nigeria.  Jude Uzonwanne in his article titled The Coming Transformation of Nigeria published in the Nigeria Village Square, Oyo Mesi was canvassed as a model for bringing revolutionary change “to curb the excessive powers that we have since 1966 placed in the federal center.” , It is not designed to lay claim to a bogus one-size-fits-all ideology as a cure-all therapy for our ailing political leadership problem.

‘Oyo Mesi’ Model is not an entirely new concept to solving a well-known problem.  There is no claim to thought-originality here.  There will be a fresh perspective and thought-provoking appeal in the modeling of ‘Oyo Mesi’, an African and pre-colonial system of measurement in governance that engender probity, accountability and performance by political sovereigns. The value proposition is the implementation of the tactics of this ancient concept of governance and accountability in one of the black self-organized and self-managed kingdoms in today’s Nigeria predating colonial intervention to sanitize our polity.  This is the new challenge to revolutionary thinking among optimistic and forward-looking Nigerians who are longing for a change in 2007.

Thank you.

NB: Part 2 will examine the concept of ‘Oyo Mesi’ Model and the 7 Components that drive its suitability and adaptability to tackling Politician Degenerative Corruption. Please Watch Out for Part 2.

Babatunde Ayoola Fajimi

Accra, Ghana

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Robot  # 1 | 21.07.2006 09:55

Creative problem-solving skill is what our leaders, journalists, educationists, social reformers,...Read the full article.

tanibaba  # 2 | 21.07.2006 12:00

Nice article. This is the aroma. I cant wait to eat of the real meal in Part II. Please come with it fast and please make sure it will satisfy the religious tenents of christianity and islam. If not it may be impossible to practice in " the most religious country in the world" taslim

myhotbrain  # 3 | 21.07.2006 13:28

Dear Tanibaba; Nice article. This is the aroma. I cant wait to eat of the real meal in Part II. Please come with it fast and please make sure it will satisfy the religious tenents of christianity and islam. If not it may be impossible to practice in " the most religious country in the world" taslim ..."the most religious country in the world" and probably the most corrupt, most devlish, most greedy, most insensitive and most fetish, most ungodly and unbeliving country as well. If not, how do any sane mind explain a scenario where a Nigerian developer secured a contract to develop a property, which was approved for a six-flats 2 story building. Instead, proceeded to build a 36-flats, 16 shops 4 story building and received 5 yrs advance rent payments from occupants. Now, the said property collapsed just a few days ago killing yet to be ascertained number of tenants and other victims (over 30 deaths recorded so far) and maiming numerous others. The said building was contructed using sub-standard and inadequate materials and is less than 10 years old, according to available reports. I can haphazard a guess, and inform you that the contractor would probably be an important member of a religious society, ditto, are the various officials who have colloborated with the developer in achieving his devlish, corrupt, insensitive and ungodly acts. The fact is that this incident is not in isolation, it is the common practice in the Nigerian society across all of the divides involving, cooperation and collaboration of people who are all members of a different religious organization. If this be the case: Then, there is no point for you, to ascribe any much value to the importance of any religion in fashioning the solution to the pervasive corruption abound in Nigeria, as corruption exist in all facets of our lives including the religious organizations. I noticed that you put the statement--the most religious country in the world--in quotes, this asssured me, that you have your own reservations concerning it. However, I cannot help but share my thoughts on the statements. Nigerians' excessive greed and corruption deserved a pragmatic even if draconian, solution. Therefore, like youself, I am eagerly waiting for part 2 of Mr. Fajimi's thesis. Regards, Peace and Love. myhotbrain

myhotbrain  # 4 | 21.07.2006 13:57

Dear Tanibaba; Nice article. This is the aroma. I cant wait to eat of the real meal in Part II. Please come with it fast and please make sure it will satisfy the religious tenents of christianity and islam. If not it may be impossible to practice in " the most religious country in the world" taslim ..."the most religious country in the world" and probably the most corrupt, most devlish, most greedy, most insensitive and most fetish, most ungodly and unbeliving country as well. If not, how do any sane mind explain a scenario where a Nigerian developer secured a contract to develop a property, which was approved for a six-flats 2 story building. Instead, proceeded to build a 36-flats, 16 shops 4 story building and received 5 yrs advance rent payments from occupants. Now, the said property collapsed just a few days ago killing yet to be ascertained number of tenants and other victims (over 30 deaths recorded so far) and maiming numerous others. The said building was contructed using sub-standard and inadequate materials and is less than 10 years old, according to available reports. I can haphazard a guess, and inform you that the contractor would probably be an important member of a religious society, ditto, are the various officials who have colloborated with the developer in achieving his devlish, corrupt, insensitive and ungodly acts. The fact is that this incident is not in isolation, it is the common practice in the Nigerian society across all of the divides involving, cooperation and collaboration of people who are all members of a different religious organization. If this be the case: Then, there is no point for you, to ascribe any much value to the importance of any religion in fashioning the solution to the pervasive corruption abound in Nigeria, as corruption exist in all facets of our lives including the religious organizations. I noticed that you put the statement--the most religious country in the world--in quotes, this asssured me, that you have your own reservations concerning it. However, I cannot help but share my thoughts on the statements. Nigerians' excessive greed and corruption deserved a pragmatic even if draconian, solution. Therefore, like youself, I am eagerly waiting for part 2 of Mr. Fajimi's thesis. Regards, Peace and Love. myhotbrain

Abraxas  # 5 | 21.07.2006 15:08

Hi, Mr. Babatunde Fajimi! Kindly amalgamate parts 2 and 3, proof-read, re-edit and send the resultant composite concluding part of your proposition (i.e. the Oyo Mesi Model) to the Administrator of the Nigerian Village Square with maximum despatch. This will enable us a have a broader view of the solution you seem to want to proffer: minimising corruption in public office. Muchas gracias.

DALLASITE  # 6 | 21.07.2006 17:21

_______________________________________________________________________ If not, how do any sane mind explain a scenario where a Nigerian developer secured a contract to develop a property, which was approved for a six-flats 2 story building. Instead, proceeded to build a 36-flats, 16 shops 4 story building and received 5 yrs advance rent payments from occupants _______________________________________________________________________ Since they are looking for the developer, I am waiting to know his/her name, so we can help the apprehend the culprit.

tanibaba  # 7 | 22.07.2006 11:58

@myhotbrain Thank you for your observations. In the first instance I brought up this particular issue because Nigerians, both the leaders and the led will bring it up in evaluating anything - policies, elections, etc. So it was not a challenge to the author (if you consider the context in which I discussed it). No it wasnt a challenge but a reminder that for his suggestions to be practicable in Nigeria , that is one element to include in the Marshall Plan. Secondly, I also appreciate your views concerning the reality of our religiousity. It is indeed painful. We are religious but we dont fear God. That is why most of those who shout Lord Lord now and engage in activities and schemes which show disregard for God will end up in hell(bible). The Quran also states very clearly that Ina akramokun inda llah atikokun - those who are acceptable in the sight of Allah (God) are those who fear Him; not those who worship as a matter of habit. thanks taslim

oluye  # 8 | 22.07.2006 18:17

Its like the older one grows the more one respects the wisdom of our fore fathers. While the world might have moved on human nature remains the same. I, like all other villagers look forward to reading the solution that "Oyo Mesi" model proposes. Don't keep us waiting too long.

oluye  # 9 | 22.07.2006 18:31

On the issue of the collapsed building, the angels in Nigeria must be working overtime! As an architect, I have witnessed all sorts of malpractices on sites in Nigeria. One such: while supervising a building at a site, there was this contractor who was erecting four buildings nearby. They were being constructed simultaneously for a group of Nigerian friends based in Germany. What I noticed was the speed with which he wanted the foundations concluded, so I approached to see what was going on. To my surprise, all the columns had no footing! I later gathered that someone appointed by the owners was to visit a couple of days later, hence the rush to cover the foundation with sand before the time. Nigerians in diaspora who are involved in building projects at home must take great care to make sure that their safety is not compromised by by contractors trying to save money.

emj  # 10 | 22.07.2006 19:14

Nice one babatunde-----not just our leaders, charity they say begins at home. Nigerians are corrupt, our value system is warped. Of course we will look for who to dump all our failures on----the leaders, sure they have failed. What about the led. The clerk up to the head of service etc etc. Even the private sector, u have the same story. Degenerative corruption started from somewhere, the individual---group of people---organizations. Anyways, thanks for the first course, i impatiently await the concluding parts of your theory---make sure admin publish both parts 2&3 same day